I need information on Elvira Hutchings, the first wife of early Yosemite resident and hotel owner, James Hutchings. I have written a book about Florence Hutchings their daughter. James and Elvira were divorced in 1875. I want to know what happened to Elvira after that.

Did B Garrison (June 99) ever get any answers to her request for more info on Elvira Hutchings?

Since Yosemite historians have removed that Hutchings family from its history...it is probably difficult to find anything. But Shirley Sargent's Pioneers in Petticoats did have a good chapter on the Hutchings women. Gertrude (Cosie) was my Gramma..but most of my info comes from these books.

Anyhow....her e-mail is no longer valid.Thanks

Sally Mills Montgomery

Re: Elvira HutchingsAuthor: Dan Anderson Date: 04-28-01 15:15

I would look in Shirley Sargent's Pioneers In Petticoats.

Some information (not alot) is also in Hank Johnston's Yosemite Yesterday's Volume II. Both are available at the Yosemite Association Bookstore at http://www.yosemite.org

There's been rumors about an affair between John Muir and Elvira Hutchings causing the Hutchings family to move to San Francisco and bitter feelings between Muir and Elvira's husband, James.

Their daughter, Flo Hutchings, was a character. She was a tomboy who swore, smoked, and rode horseback like a man.

I am interested in Florantha Thompson Sproat, mother of Elvira Hutchings. I would be delighted to correspond or speak to anyone who can tell me of Florantha's experiences during and after leaving Wisconsin territory. She was married to Granville Sproat, a lay missionary for the Am. Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions mission to the Ojibwe stationed at La Pointe (Madeline Island) in Lake Superior.

Hometown was Middleborough, Massachusetts.

I appreciate the comments on this message board that show me that Florantha was not the only spunky woman in that family. Sounds like this is a remarkable line of adventurous women.

Want to see Florantha in the flesh? Go to the Wisc. Hist. Soc. website online portrait of her, painted by her father Cephus Thompson.

I was going thru an old box of old magazines and tour books when I came across a booklet, "YOSEMITE saga of a century 1864-1964" (Oakhurst, Calif.: The Sierra Star Press, 1964), 57p. In this booklet was an article written by Shirly Sargent with Ray Kaplan. I was drawn to this story by a picture of Florence Hutchings as a youth. Upon reading this delightful story I wanted to learn more and came across this message board and I wanted to say that in this article, I read the following about Florence Hutching's mother( Elvira Hutchings):

"Play acting on Floy's part was soon over shadowed by real life drama when her mother after seven years of incarceration within the valley, deserted her family to run off with a man who shared her other wordly intersts."

Earlier in this same article Elvira Sproat was noted as being 22 years younger than James Mason Hutchings and advidly interested in botany and spiritial matters (rather vague). Hope this information can be useful to someone.

Did anybody find out anything more about Elvira? Once she left the valley and was divorced from Hutchings does anybody know the name of the young man with whom she had an affair. And please be careful about the stuff between muir and the hutchings women...there are lots of rumors and some family ones. Nobody really knows yet...fwiw.

I am researching the Hutchings family and wonder if you can give me any information on the children of James Mason and Elvira. I have some information from all the internet articles but wonder what happened to Gertrude and William in later life. Also do you know much about James's second and third wives. My husband is a great, great, great nephew of James Mason. I would love to get in touch with you personally but not sure if this is possible. Thanks

Sue Dawkins

e: Elvira HutchingsAuthor: denny (---.lcinet.net)Date: 02-25-05 11:34

What book did you write on Floy Hutchings?

I am doing research on the Hutchings' Family & can use all the info that I can find.

Why did the Yosemite Historical Society remove information on the Hutchings family from its archieves? Did her mother ever learn of her death? Did she ever write anything about her daughter? Did Floy's sister or brother write anything in depth about Floy?My family is totally consumed with the life of this family, especially the life of Floy. No one has touched our souls more then this wonderful soul from the past and we wish to know every detail of her short, but in our eyes enchanted life.I feel so close to Floy. She is the sister and the friend I have always wanted. Please let me know everywhere I can go to find information on her life and the lives of the rest of the family. Where can I find pictures of her and her family?I am about to enter middle school and I'd like to write a series of ever more deeply informed and deeply personal essays on Floy and her family.Fern

Fern Wilson, I am somewhat bewildered with your empassioned email. Why is your family so "consumed" with the Hutchings pioneers? Why do you think this is the "friend". "sister" that you never had? And just why does Floy touch so many souls? This is all very interesting, but I also feel it is a little over the top. However, I do hope you or your parent finds more about this family for "your report". I have a little trouble with your statement that you are about to enter middle school and if so that makes you under 13 which according to the rule below, you are not to be posting here.

What;s wrong with a 13 year old being infactuated with a young heroin? Florence Hutchings' story is a wonderful tale of strength. It is a positive infactuation, As alot of young girls are infactuated with provocative role models such as Brittany Spears or anorexic models and such. why would you even critisize this young woman for her passion to complete a good assignment in school?maybe you shold re-think what you are complaining about. Leave fern alone!JIL

oohheeee. I am not attacking her. I asked some very good questions I think. I would like to see her answer. Personally I don't think an 11 yr old wrote this letter. BUT I do know some are smarter than Brittany Spears. I didn't think I was complaining. I was asking why she was so taken with Floy. Did you read the message too..or are you just on the attack. Sorry if I offended you. Have Fern answer. She probably can! And I am curious. And have you seen the book "Squirrel and John Muir" by Emily McCully. That too, has something about this youngster and of course, J Muir. It is a book that Fern Wilson would probably get a hoot out of.

Do you know when Hutchings children were born? baptised?For my forthcoming book, Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & CraftsHome I deal with Rev. Joseph Worcester, Swedenborgian minister, who baptised their children and am trying to find out what years they were born ?This would tell me when Worcester was in Yosemite.http://www.buildingwithnature.com

Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Homeby Leslie FreudenheimYosemite is an essential part of this new book. Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts and Crafts Home focuses on the beginnings (1865 and on) of the Arts & Crafts California shingle style and the origins of the trend toward building simple rustic homes in harmony with nature and its roots in Yosemite’s vernacular architecture.The book presents exciting new material on Reverend Joseph Worcester of the the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church, and his interaction with the Hutchings family, John Muir and Frederick Law Olmsted in Yosemite

Freudenheim examines how Joseph Worcester and his circle encouraged less materialism through architecture that complemented a simpler life in tune with nature, such as he had seen in Yosemite. The book includes letters from Worcester to his cousin, architect Daniel H. Burnham, and to his nephew Alfred Worcester, along with previously unpublished original documents relating to architectural developments in the Bay Area at the turn of the century.Building with Nature is available online now from Amazon.com and Gibbs-Smith.com

Do you know when Hutchings children were born? baptised?For my forthcoming book, Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & CraftsHome I deal with Rev. Joseph Worcester, Swedenborgian minister, who baptised their children and am trying to find out what years they were born ?This would tell me when Worcester was in Yosemite.http://www.buildingwithnature.com

Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Homeby Leslie FreudenheimYosemite is an essential part of this new book. Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts and Crafts Home focuses on the beginnings (1865 and on) of the Arts & Crafts California shingle style and the origins of the trend toward building simple rustic homes in harmony with nature and its roots in Yosemite’s vernacular architecture.The book presents exciting new material on Reverend Joseph Worcester of the the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church, and his interaction with the Hutchings family, John Muir and Frederick Law Olmsted in Yosemite

Freudenheim examines how Joseph Worcester and his circle encouraged less materialism through architecture that complemented a simpler life in tune with nature, such as he had seen in Yosemite. The book includes letters from Worcester to his cousin, architect Daniel H. Burnham, and to his nephew Alfred Worcester, along with previously unpublished original documents relating to architectural developments in the Bay Area at the turn of the century.Building with Nature is available online now from Amazon.com and Gibbs-Smith.com

Leslie, here is what I have on the birth of these Hutchings kids...tho I am not sure that they were baptised in the valley. They did have a home in SF, to my knowledge...which granted, is not all that much.Floy was born in August 1864; Cosie October1867 and Willie 1869. I don't know who did the funeral service for Floy either...but that is when they were born. My guess is that the museum of the Park would have some notes on the baptisms in something hidden away in the curator's rooms. Is this why you want this information...to figure out when Rev. Worcester was there? That should be documented somewhere else, I would think. anyway...if this helps, so be it.

According to my booklet-Yosemite -saga of century c1964:(the sierra star press., oakhurst California-

"Florence Hutchings (Flo)was born August 23, 1864-she was the first white child born in Yosemite Valley.In 1867, Gertrude Hutchings(Cosie) And Brother William mason followed in 1869.

Grandmother Florantha Sproat often took the children to San francisco in the winters to go to school in SF. In 1875, the State succeeded in evicting the Hutching's father from his private claims after paying him ,$24,000.00 compesation. Except for camping trips to Yosemite, the Hutchings were forced to reside in Mrs. Sproat's Pine Street home in San Francisco.

On Ap[ril 19, 1890, hutching's was appointed guardian of the Yosemite Grant and returned to his Yosemite home.

While still in San Francisco , Floy " got religion" by attending revival services of the famous Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sanky. so deeply did she immerse herself with religion that she invited Dr. George Cole Stebbins, music director for the revivalists, and his sister to visit Yosemite.... A high spot of her conducted tour for them was a visit to the 1879-completed Chapel which had been partially financed by donations from Sunday School children throughout the nation."

this article was written by Shirley sargent with ray Kaplan-

shirley sargent os a Yosemite historian and authority on Galen Clark. her biography of his life, Yosemite Guardian, Galen Clark, will be published the summer of 1964 by the sierra club. Ray kaplan is a fireman for the city of San leandro. His love for yosemite has led him into research into its human history, where he has specialized on the life of Florence Hutchings.

On September 26th1881, Flo died.

The funeral was held in the Big tree Room of Hutching's former hotel with Artist Charles D. Robinson reading the burial services and memorial.

Her sorrowful step-mother wrote, for the san Francisco Evening Post, "So we have laid her , who only a week before...was climbing heights and scrambling through ravineswhere eagles might be looked for, under the same oaks with Effie( her childhood friend "the Lilly" and Flo was "the rose")....

Addendum: If Reverend Worcester was a friend of J. Muir in Yosemite...I think Muir appeared in the valley about 1867 and so I would think that JW was there around or just after that time. Purely an assumption tho. Good luck. This Reverend Worcester sounds like a good study. Good man.

Yes, j parrish is right, Floy's services were held in the Big Tree room by Robinson. Forgot that. Even tho the Hutchings girls were the first and second Caucasion's born in the Valley, weren't there other children their during the years of these children's births? Has anybody contacted any of the other ancestors of those in the valley during those years? I would be interested in knowing that or if history is available through them. I am curious about that.

As for Floy "getting religion" I think even tho not formally into an institution, I think she and her sister were born with the spirit in them and so Floy's intensity in that came naturally. Another step I guess. None of the Hutchings were raised in any religion as such and none practiced any. Tho Cosie did follow the way of the Friends philosophy in her later adult years. (only my opinion)

I am typing from a centenial commemoration boolet as stated above.....

Acticle in the commemorative booklet that may be of interest:

"A SCENE OF WONDER AND CURIOSITY"-BY FRANCES P. FARQHAR

"The transition of Yosemite form mysterious Indian stronghold to a world-famous scenic wonder was incredibly rapid. Hardly had the murderous conflicts of 1851 and 1852 subsided when rumors began to spread from Mariposa about spectacualr waterfalls and immense cliffs. They caught the attention of a young englishman, james Mason Hutchings whose experiences in the mining regions had led him to belive an illustrated magazine supplying the public with what he termed " solid information" would be well recieved. If the facts about Yosemite were anything like the rumors, they were woorth looking itno and would be lively subjects for his magazine. Accordingly he engaged an artist, Thomas A. ayers, who had been making quite a name for himself with well-executed portrayals of the California scene, and set out for Yosemite. At Mariposa he had diffeculty in finding anyone who knew how to get to the valley, but at lengthtwo reliable indians were secured as guides, and late in June 1855, Hutchings and Ayers with two comapnions, Walter Millard and Alexander Stair, took obscure trail. the first tourists to Yosemite were on their way........"

I will continue where this left off later today...so-TO BE CONTINUED-tHANKSJIL PARRIS

On the subject of JM Hutchings, I have recently seen a book called "Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity" put together by Roger R. Olmsted of SF. His Preface gives a rather interesting look at Hutchings. The book is a selection of the "Hutchings' California Magazine from 1856 through 1861". From what I can tell these are articles from the magazine talking about the wonders of California and are not personal as far as family goes. It just gives a nicer rendition of this man Hutchings, than sometimes we read.Oh and the book has many illustrations of places/things/people or that era.

Five days were spent in the Valley, exploring, sketching, and calculating the heights of the falls and cliffs. The beauty of the scene and the magnitude of the features far exceeded expectations. Upon returning to mariposa, Hutchings wrote for mariposa Gazette an account that marked the beginning of a century of descriptions that practically exhausted the Thesaurus of adjectives. he then hastened to San Francisco to give to the world the first authentic illustration of the wonders of the Yosemite- a large lithographed view entitled "YO-Hamite Falls," made form one of Ayers sketches.

It may be well to pause for a moment to consider the variations of the spelling that haunted the valley for awhile. Bunnel, in his book, "Discovery of Yosemite," says that he proposed the name Yo-sem-i-ty, for the tribe if Indians who made their homes in the Valley. this closely resembled the word for grizzley bear, u-zu'-ma-ti, or in another dialect, oo-hoo'-ma-te, by which some of the Indians called themselves. One could interpret these sounds according to one's fancy and Bunnell heard them one way , Hutchings another. Bunnell's spelling, in the hands of an editor who may have had spanish inclinations, got into print as Yosemite, Hutchings tried to correct it, and he was probably right, but after some correspondence with Bunnell he reluctantly dropped the h, nevertheless asserting his individualism with YoSemite, or Yo Semite, long after Yosemite had become genrally accepted.

Inspired by the reports of the Hutching's party, two other groups set out for the Valley at about he same time in August 1855;one, of 17, form mariposa, the other ten minersfrom nearby Sherlock creek. very little is recorded of the former, except that it included Galen Clark, then just beginning his long association with the Yosemite region.....

A FOURTH EXPEDITION IN THIS INAUGURAL YEAR OF yOSEMITE TOURISM WAS ORGANIZED BY THE REV. W.A. SCOTT. of San francisco, after hearing the wonders form Hutchings in person.....

Hutchings had a profound influence upon tourist travel to Yosemite and saw it grow to demensions little dreamed of when he opened the way in 1855. In that year the entire roster consisted ofthe Hutching-ayers party 4; the mariposa-Clark party 17; the Sherlock Creek party 10; the Scott-Holmes party 11- a total of 42. Fifty years later the annual number reached 10,000; and a century later 1,000,000. Thus the ever-recurring question posed: Wouldn't it be wonderful to be in the Incomparable Valley in its pristine solitude? yes, indeed, but how about the million others who may have the same thought? (end)

My thoughts have always been "how fortunate these folks were to be in that valley without people". And knowing what it is like to grow up in a rugged unpopulated area, how much did they all miss it when they left. There were other kids in that valley too a few years later. Living in the out of doors surrounded by beauty and nature makes a person independent, compassionate and with a feeling of closeness to all of it, I think. How hard was it for them to leave..either for school, employment or when marriage took one away. When you are in that Park now and get up early in the morning to take a quick walk thru the valley...it is a very awesome experience and often one does think of those first Europeans. I imagine that the Native Valley folks thought they had it too...the sadness of progress. I have been in several parks with this awesomeness and with "close encouners" with animals and don't even have the words to describe it all........but Yosemite really tops them all. My opinion of course.

Vicky..i was in Yosemite last year..lots of stuff on the Hutchings. The Pioneer Cemetery booklet tells abit about "Cosie". If you live in the area you could go peruse, if not, cehck their bookstores. To me it looks like James Mason Hutchings and Flora get most of the written words.

I am curious. At the top of this thread is a entry from Barbara Garrison. She says she has written a book about Florence Hutchings. I am wondering what the title of that book is. The only one I have seen of late is that book about john muir titled "Squirrel and John Muir" by Emily Arnold McCully. Are Garrison and McCully one and the same. McCully's book is not about Florence, but about John Muir. Can anybody give the title of Garrison's book? I don't see references to it in her list of books.

I can say tho that the other is wonderfully illustrated. Wow. Makes me think these authors/illustrators are one and the same.

Past discussions in this forum reflect a renewed interest in the lives of James M. Hutchings' first wife Elvira and their three children. A forthcoming book by Dennis G. Kruska uncovers many new details about the Hutchings family, and the role they played in the early history of Yosemite and California.

Much less is known about the lives of Elvira's parents, Granville and Florantha Sproat, and her sister Lucy. Granville was a poet, a teacher, and a healer, alwayson the run, never able to fully reconcile his dreams and ideals with the harsh reality. Florantha had strong character and moral convictions. She was very much liked by those who had met her, yet she was often exploited by her immediate family and inlaws. Elvira's younger sister Lucy got married for a prominent Oregon merchant, then abandoned it all, left for Europe with her daughter (an artist), and died and was buried in Italy.

I am a descendant of Galen Clark and recently found a letter from him to his cousin discussing genealogy. It was written in Yosemite postmarked 1900. I offered to give a copy to the California History folks and they never replied. It seems like it would be valuable information, but maybe he wrote a lot and that information is also elsewhere.

saranemone wrote:I am a descendant of Galen Clark and recently found a letter from him to his cousin discussing genealogy. It was written in Yosemite postmarked 1900. I offered to give a copy to the California History folks and they never replied. It seems like it would be valuable information, but maybe he wrote a lot and that information is also elsewhere.

Dan, did you ever get a reponse reL the letter from Saranemone? I know that Galen Clark had a huge difference of opinion about the valley than Hutchings and for whatever reason and for whenever he could, he excoriated Hutchings. I would be interested in the contents of that letter. I also have a letter by Clark to Gertrude Hutchings...written a few years later than 1900.